How Not To Destroy Your Diet Over The Weekend

Do you find that weekends are the most difficult time to stay on track with your nutrition? You know, all those events, dinners, parties and BBQs that happen, do they seem to throw you off track? Not to worry! I've got some great tips for you to help you stay healthy on the weekends and still lose weight.

Let's first have a look at what it takes to lose weight. We must be in a calorie deficiency to lose weight, there is no question about it. It takes a weekly deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 lb per week. This is a 500 calorie deficit per day. Now what seems to happen to a lot of people is they are in a deficit during the week but make the decision to have a "cheat meal", "cheat day" or "cheat weekend". Calories can add up faster than you can blink an eye especially when meals are eaten out at restaurants. One single meal could be 2000 calories or more (and that's not including dessert). This could easily take someone out of their weekly deficit and put them back into maintenance calories. When we are consuming maintenance calories we will not lose weight. Now this does not mean we are never allowed to indulge when dieting, it just means we need to be a little more strategic. For example, if you know you have a big dinner out planned then stick with eating primarily lean protein and vegetables through the day. This will help keep your calories low so that when you eat out it does not completely throw your diet off course. Another example would be to customize your dinner out by getting a salad instead of fries or not eating the bun from a burger and saving it for another day or only eating half of the meal.

Okay so let's get to it, here are simple tips to keep you on track on the weekends.

Tip 1: Treat the weekend as if it was a week day. Stay laser-focused on those goals as hard as you do through the week.

Tip 2: Fill up on lots of green veggies to stay full.

Tip 3: Make healthier and less calorie-dense versions of your favorite trees! (* See recipe below)

Tip 4: Be the host of the dinner party or bring your own dish to a potluck that is in alignment with how you want to eat. You will be in control of what's served and how much you consume.

Tip 5: Find other activities to do that do not revolve around food and stay active!

Tip 6: Enjoy the moments of today with your family and friends without such an emphasis on food and going out to eat.

So now that you have some tools in your pocket for staying on track this weekend, here is a healthy, low-calorie snack if you're feeling chocolate-y!